On Tuesday I described the hellish experience of traveling on the crowded Metro in Caracas, Venezuela. Two days later and rich with insight into transit systems from the world beyond Washington, I've found the following in my commuting through Caracas:

The Mad Dash Exists Outside Washington: You know that blind mad dash we all tend to make when we transfer in a multi-level station? That desperate run from the Red Line to the Orange Line below at Metro Center, hoping all the while that our effort will be rewarded by a waiting train? It seems that the instinct crosses geographical and cultural boundaries. Pulling into the Plaza Venezuela station -- one of the two existing transfer stations in the Caracas system -- riders quickly surge towards the doors, pouring out as they open and sprinting for the stairs. Hope is written all over their face -- maybe, just maybe they'll catch a train.

Standing Right, Standing Left: Washingtonians are so serious about leaving the left side of the escalators free of human debris that Metro went so far as to coin a term to describe the wastes of space that selfishly breaks the rule. The British are similarly passionate about the matter. Venezuelans observe no such rule. Worse yet, their escalator standing habits are wholly unpredictable. The resulting human obstacle course leaves the determined escalator walker left with the challenge of both proceeding up and from side to side. Until you run into that one couple determined to block all lanes of human traffic, that is. Bastards.

Railcar Real Estate: Metro has been throwing around the idea of ditching some seats on railcars to allow for more standing room and, consequently, increased human capacity on trains. The Caracas Metro railcars are all configured like Washington's. Spare the one I jumped on today after waiting as nine crowded trains came and went. Wow. The additional real estate created by ditching the seats closest to the door made all the difference. The ride wasn't any more comfortable -- fitting us all in was like a human version of Tetris -- but the additional space created would be a boon to the more crowded lines in Washington.